FROM A COUNTRY SCHOOL TO 194 TESTS FOR NEW ZEALAND: THE JOURNEY OF NIC WOODS
When Nic Woods looks back on his hockey journey, it is hard to believe it all started at a small country school in Ngāhinapōuri.
With just 120 students and two hockey teams, the sport was brought to the school by a couple of mothers who wanted to give the kids an opportunity to play.
Nic’s older brother was one of the first to get involved.
“Naturally he needed somebody to play with and I followed exactly what my brother did,” Woods says.
That decision would ultimately set Woods on a path that has taken him from Waikato hockey to the Vantage Black Sticks, two World Cups and now 194 international appearances.
Woods made his international debut in 2014, stepping into a Black Sticks environment filled with players he had grown up idolising.
Phil Burrows, Ryan Archibald and Dean Cousins were among the names he had watched from afar. As a young hockey fan, Woods suddenly found himself training alongside them.
For Woods, one moment in particular has stayed with him.
“Ryan Archibald was my idol and he was the nicest guy when I came on board,” he says.
“The first guy to come up to you at training and shake your hand and really make you feel welcome.”
It was a small gesture, but one that Woods has carried with him throughout his own international career.
More than a decade later, Woods is now one of the senior players in the group and sees his role differently.
He believes the culture of the Vantage Black Sticks has evolved significantly since he first entered the team. Where he once felt overwhelmed as a young player, he now wants to help create an environment where the next generation can feel comfortable enough to show what they can do.
“Now it's more like how inclusive we can make it so that these guys can come into the team and flourish,” he says.
“They can show their stuff, they can feel comfortable and confident to play.”
For Woods, that is part of what leadership now means.
He has seen young players such as Ryan Parr arrive into the environment and immediately make an impact, something Woods admits was not necessarily the case when he first started.
“I couldn't trap a ball for my first 50 tests,” he jokes.
His own journey has been shaped by plenty of people along the way, from coaches who helped develop him through the Waikato pathway to the teammates who welcomed him into international hockey.
But above all, Woods credits his family.
“I honestly wouldn't be here without them,” he says of his parents and brother.
That support has followed him through two World Cups in India, including one of his favourite memories in a Black Sticks shirt, beating India in front of their home crowd in a 2023 World Cup crossover.
Now preparing for his third World Cup, Woods is heading to the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup with confidence and belief in the group.
“The squad is very exciting. I believe we can show the world the type of hockey team we are and push for success at this event”.
“Playing the Netherlands (currently ranked second in the world) in their own backyard for our opening match of the World Cup is a challenge I’m pumped for. You can’t get a bigger occasion than that, and as athletes, that’s what we play for”.
But while the stages and surroundings may change, the journey that started in Ngāhinapōuri remains at the heart of it.
Away from hockey, Woods has also found another way to build community.
Alongside one of his best mates from high school, he opened Padel Park after discovering padel while playing hockey in Germany.
What started as an idea to bring the social sport back to New Zealand has grown into a community of its own, something Woods is particularly proud of.
“One of the best things I've seen here is an old lady turned up on her own on our open day and she was just like, ‘I want to try.’”
She met three other people, exchanged numbers and has since returned every week to play with the same group.
For Woods, that is what Padel Park is about.
“That’s a new community and that's what I want to see out of this place.”
It is perhaps a fitting reflection of Woods’ own journey.
From a small school where someone created an opportunity to play, to a Black Sticks environment where a senior player once made him feel welcome, Woods has spent much of his life being part of communities that have helped shape him.
Now, with 194 international appearances behind him and another World Cup ahead, he is helping shape the next generation in return.
“I have a lot to thank about what he got me into,” Woods says of his brother.
It is a simple reminder of where it all began and just how far that first decision to follow his brother onto a hockey field has taken him.